A federal court ruled Tuesday that a student group at the University of Maryland could move forward with a vigil for Gaza on Oct. 7 after the school canceled all events on campus that day, the first anniversary of Hamas’s terror attack against Israel, which spurred the ongoing war.
Palestine Legal and the Council on American-Islamic Relations sued on behalf of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group in Maryland after the school canceled a previously approved event on campus that was organized to honor those killed in Gaza since the conflict began last fall.
“It is clear to the Court that UMCP’s [University of Maryland College Park] decision to revoke its permission to SJP to hold its event on October 7 was neither viewpoint-neutral, nor content-neutral, nor narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest. The decision clearly came in response to possible speech that several groups or individuals claimed would be highly objectionable,” Judge Peter Messitte said in his ruling.
